Balance on Sunday, balance going forward for Jones

Pro Football Focus credited Aaron Jones with forcing 10 missed tackles on Sunday at Dallas. I had Jones forcing 14 – the most since I started tracking such things in 2012. Running backs coach Ben Sirmans counted 12.

Either way, Jones was a tackle-breaking machine in the Green Bay Packers’ 34-24 victory over the Cowboys. Before Sirmans joined the Packers in 2016, he was running backs coach for the Rams. His top back at the time was Steven Jackson, who broke a lot of tackles because he was 231 pounds. Jones is tough to bring down for a very different reason.

Video: RBs coach Ben Sirmans on Aaron Jones

“He’s a very instinctive runner, and I think his style is so deceiving because he can make such fluid cuts,” Sirmans said on Monday. “Sometimes, you’ll see backs breaking down. When they start breaking down, it gives the defender an opportunity to reset themselves and make the tackle, but he’s just so smooth with his movement that he can get guys off-balance. When a guy’s off-balance and he can’t run their feet to go make the tackle, that’s when he can avoid him. He’s not a real shifty, hip guy, like a Barry Sanders. He does everything through quick, subtle movements.”

For Jones, the formula is one part having what can’t be taught and then a heaping helping of building upon that strength. Pad level, which means running low to give defenders a smaller target, is something that can be worked on on the practice field. The balance comes naturally, though that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.

“You can definitely work on your balance but I think it is something that you’re born with and you fine-tune it and hone in on it,” Jones said on Tuesday. “It’s [doing] different things in the offseason, from single-leg squats to single-leg exercises to working on being off-balance, so your body knows what it feels like to be off-balance and catch itself and get realigned.”

Jones had a record-setting day against Dallas. He joined Hall of Famer Jim Taylor as the only Packers backs to rush for four touchdowns in a road game, and became the first back from any team to run for four touchdowns against the Cowboys. His season average went from a feeble 3.3 yards per carry to a respectable 3.9.

“I thought I played well,” Jones said. “Of course, there’s always things you can improve upon but, overall, I was happy with the way I performed. I want to continue to be a playmaker for this team and am excited with where things are at right now.”

Jones showed an array of skills on his touchdown runs. On the first, he used a wicked stiff-arm on safety Xavier Woods. On the third, he used his speed to get to the corner, then waved bye-bye to defensive back Byron Jones.

“A little chippyness,” Jones said with a smile. “People get to talking throughout the game and they try to get you when you’re in your zone. I’m usually not a guy to talk trash until they talk trash to me. Once that happens, I’m not going to stop talking. It was no disrespect to Byron Jones. We were just having a little fun.”

The fun continued for Jones. On the fourth touchdown, he plowed through safety Jeff Heath near the goal line.

Jones has eight touchdown runs on the season, tops in the league and as many as the Packers had in the entire 2015 season.

“When we get down there, you’ve got to find the end zone,” Jones said of his nose for the goal line. “You want to put seven points up on the board. When you get down there, you’ve got to run north and south. Our O-linemen have been getting a lot of push and the rest of the blocking unit has been doing their job, which has been making it easier for me to find my way in there.”

Jones had 26 touches against the Cowboys, one off his career-high 27 vs. Minnesota in Week 2. Before that, Jones had never had a game of more than 20 touches. After both of his big performances this season, Jones said he felt as good as usual the next day. Still, can Jones endure the heavy workloads after being sidelined three times the previous two seasons with knee injuries? Can the legs stay fresh so he’s as effective in December as he was on Oct. 6?

“We just try to balance it out the best we can,” Sirmans said, using the word balance in a different way than Jones. “Dallas had a really, really long drive, so it gave him a chance to re-energize, so I threw him back in. There’s a lot of variables. I try to have a great feel for it. I’m always communicating with him, particularly after a number of plays in a row where he has a touch. Whether he can do it for a whole season, 20-something touches, I don’t know. From our part, we’ve got to do a great job of making sure we balance everything out. Obviously, we want to get him to December. Who knows? Maybe he can. He is tough, he is strong. Maybe he can go throughout the season averaging 25 touches a game.”